


The BioWare Effect

by Nopholom



Category: The Magnificent Seven (2016)
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Established Relationship, M/M, Mild Hurt/Comfort
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-11-19
Updated: 2016-11-19
Packaged: 2018-08-31 21:13:44
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,143
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8594032
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Nopholom/pseuds/Nopholom
Summary: Billy wasn't woken up by his alarm on the day of his exam like he had expected to be, no, he was awoken by the sound of his boyfriend crying at 2am over a video game.





	

**Author's Note:**

> Written because of this: http://boromir-queries-sean.tumblr.com/post/153364012841 which I read at about 5am and could not stop thinking about so ended up getting up at 7 on a Saturday thanks for that.
> 
> Contains spoilers for Mass Effect, funnily enough.

Billy wasn't woken up by his alarm on the day of his exam like he had expected to be, no, he was awoken by the sound of his boyfriend crying at 2am over a _video game_.

"Oh Billy what have I _done_?" Goody sobbed, crouched by their bed and peering through the darkness at Billy as he blinked awake,

"What happened?" He yawned, pulling the covers tighter around himself because _shit_ it was fucking cold,

"Tali's dead, she's _dead_ and I don't know what to do, my last saves were before the floaty thingy and before the suicide mission, why didn't I save more? I can’t do the whole thing again it was so _hard_ , but I don't want her to die what do I do?" It took Billy a few seconds to realise what this was about, and the noise of sheer irritation he made had Goody flinching, _good_.

“Wait… hard? I thought you were playing on casual…” Billy rubbed his face on his pillow as he spoke, resigning himself to this discussion,

“What? And have Faraday rip the shit out of me for playing like a baby? No way, I’m on Normal,” Goody sniffled, wiping at his face,

“What about ripping you for crying like a baby?” Billy asked,

“Men cry, Billy, just because _you_ don’t have feelings,” Goody huffed,

“I have feelings, like right now I feel like killing you,” Billy stated plainly,

“Rude,”

“I have an exam in the morning and you’ve woken me up over a _game_ ,” Goody seemed offended at the way he’d said game, and Billy grumbled tiredly in response,

“She’s _dead_ Billy!” Goody all but wailed as he was harshly reminded why he was here, anguish etched into his features, Billy groaned, “She didn’t make it back to the ship and I don’t want her to die, she was so sweet, what did I do wrong?” he cowered when Billy moved, he wasn’t stupid, he knew he was being a pain in the ass, though Billy had and never would hit him for it.

“Okay so obviously, you fucked up somewhere on the Suicide Mission…” Billy yawned, he was too tired for this, but the quicker he fixed it the quicker he could go back to sleep,

“I have to do it again? Jesus,” Goody mourned, “I don’t think I can Billy, what if someone else dies?”

“Shut up, you don’t have to… who did you take to the boss fight?” This would be easier if Goody figured out how to shut up,

“Boss fight…” Goody said,

“The floaty thingy, with the skeleton thingy,” Billy explained vaguely, was that the right boss? He knew Goody had mentioned the floaty thingy, which was presumably the platform that took you to the final boss of the game,

“Uh… Mordin and Garrus,” he said slowly,

“Why the fuck would you take Garrus?” he asked, it was a logical choice but at the same time, he’d played through enough to know that taking Garrus for the final fight usually meant someone weaker would die, as he wasn’t 100% certain on his method for keeping everyone alive through the suicide mission even with the amount of hours he’d put in by the time the final game and it’s DLC came out about three years ago.

“Because he’s a sniper, and he’s cool as shit, why wouldn’t you take him?” Goody scoffed, wiping his eyes again as he went from upset to determined to get Billy’s sleepy cheat sheet on how to save his fictitious friends,

“Okay, sure, right,” Billy rubbed his face with the duvet again to try and wake himself more, “reload, take Tali and Mordin with you, it’ll be a little harder, but they’re your weakest friends, if anyone is gonna die trying to escape, it’s them,” Goody let out a mournful little noise at that, this was almost as bad as when Goody killed Kaidan by accident the other day playing the first game, Billy had to leave work for that one, he was almost jealous at how much Goody loved that dude, “So if you have them with you, they won’t die,”

“Okay, and what if someone else dies?” Goody asked, Jesus did it matter?

“Then you have to redo the suicide mission and not fuck it up,” Billy yawned, “now leave me alone, I have an exam in the morning,”

“Okay,” Goody stood then, heading for the door, “Billy?”

“If this isn’t you saying goodnight I’m going to get up and punch you,” Billy warned,

“Don’t punch me, you said Kaidan was a romance option, but he’s mad at me,” Goody said sadly, muttering something after about him having that issue with the men in his life lately,

“He won’t be, buy him whiskey in the third game and keep visiting him,” Billy yawned, “Oh and download and install _all_ the DLC before you start the third game, trust me it’s worth it,” he added quickly,

“Whiskey, visit him, DLC, right, night Billy,” Goody sighed from the doorway, lingering for a few seconds longer than Billy was willing to let him,

“Go away Goody,” Billy yawned, rolling over and pulling the covers over his head so he could get some sleep before his exam.

He wasn’t awoken by Goody again, his alarm went off at 7 and he went through his morning routine without a hitch, emerging into the living room to find that Goody was still sat up playing his game, trying to decide where to go next on the Galaxy Map. It wasn’t until he’d finished eating some toast that he realized nothing had happened on the screen since he’d gotten up, he moved over to Goody and noticed him snoring softly, sat up with his chin on his chest and a bulky headset playing the soothing tones of the Galaxy Map into his ears as he slept with the controller in his hands. On the coffee table was a few empty cans of red bull, a half-eaten carton of old takeout, and Goody’s notes, a hasty scribble of what Billy had told him along with “WHISKEY” crossed out. Billy sighed and eased the controller from Goody’s vice-like sleep-grip, sitting on the only empty spot on the coffee table and backing out of the map, saving the game in three separate slots before shutting the console down and turning off the TV. He removed Goody’s headset and eased him down onto his side, fetching a blanket and covering him up before tidying away his mess; he returned and picked up Goody’s pen, jotting him a little note of ‘I saved your game for you, gone to my exam, good luck with Kaidan, xx’ before turning to Goody, running a hand gently through his dirty blond hair and leaning down to kiss his brow lightly. “Idiot,” he mumbled affectionately before leaving for his exam.

**Author's Note:**

> Fun Fact: The things Goody experienced in Mass Effect are what I did, I killed my (future) boyfriend by accident (I hate Ashley, sorry but she's the Donald Trump of Mass Effect the xenophobic fuckhead), and then I cried at 2am because I lost Tali only I used Google instead of a sleeping boyfriend to console me. I also completed the entire Mass Effect trilogy in about 6 days several years after it all came out, with very little sleep, whilst working part time, and liveblogging it on Tumblr. I like to think Goody did the same, only with college instead of work, and probably emotionally texting Red who had given him the games in the first place.


End file.
